Apparatus and method for controlling a cursor on a viewing screen

ABSTRACT

An apparatus for controlling a cursor ( 10 ) on an electronic viewing screen ( 102 ) connected to a computer ( 104 ) without using hands. The apparatus comprises a detecting unit ( 108 ), intended to be carried by a user ( 106 ). The detecting unit ( 108 ) is provided with at least one ultrasonic device ( 110 ), which emits ultrasonic signals mainly in a direction towards the user&#39;s ( 106 ) mouth cavity and registers reflected ultrasonic signals. The apparatus further comprises a processing unit ( 116 ) for transforming the reflected ultrasonic signals into control signals intended to control the cursor ( 100 ). Thereby, the control signals create movement or activation of the cursor on the viewing screen such that different conditions in the mouth cavity are associated with specific cursor commands.

TECHNICAL FIELD

[0001] The present invention relates to an apparatus and method forcontrolling, without using hands, a cursor or so-called mouse pointer onan electronic viewing screen by a user by means of movements in themouth cavity, in particular by the tongue.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION AND PRIOR ART

[0002] In e.g. different kinds of personal computers, a so-called mouseis used to control a cursor on a viewing screen connected to thecomputer, by moving the mouse on a basis for displacing the cursor. Themouse is further typically provided with one or more clickable buttonsfor performing different operations in the computer, corresponding tothe current position of the cursor on the screen. A number of knowntechniques exist within this field for providing the above-mentionedfunctions. For example, a freely rotating ball may be arranged at thebottom of the mouse, where the rotation of the ball during movement ofthe mouse over the basis is transformed into signals, which aretransferred by means of a cable to the computer, where the signals aretransformed into a corresponding command for producing movement of thecursor on the viewing screen. When clicking a mouse button, a commandsignal is transferred to the computer for executing a predeterminedoperation, depending on the position of the cursor, such as activating aprogram or an application. Known techniques also exist for wirelesstransmission of signals from the mouse to the computer, e.g. IRtransmission or radio transmission, such as Bluetooth.

[0003] The mouse is typically operated by one of the user's hands, whichis not possible or desirable in certain situations. Thus, there is aneed for enabling cursor control without using any hand, e.g. fordisabled persons, or when both hands, sometimes as well as feet, areoccupied with other things, such as during car driving and whenoperating machines or instruments. Solutions have previously beenproposed where the user can control the cursor by means of movements ofthe tongue and/or other parts of the mouth cavity or the face. Thetongue is undeniably one part of the body, apart from the hands, whichis the most easy to control for making a large number of differentmovements, without much effort and with great precision. The previouslyknown solutions therefor typically involve some manipulating devicecorresponding to the mouse, which is placed inside the mouth cavity,such as a ball or the like being applied at a tooth row or in thepalate, see for example DE 195 12 595 A1. However, it may be perceivedby the user as troublesome to have a foreign object in the mouth, notleast from a hygienic standpoint. Further, it may be percieved asuncomfortable to manipulate such an object by the tongue, since acertain muscular strength is typically required, which may result intension pains or cramps. The manipulating device must also be appliedcorrectly in the mouth cavity, and be cleaned and maintained, resultingin added efforts. Thus, there is a problem to use a manipulating deviceinside the mouth cavity for obtaining computer control without usinghands.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

[0004] It is an object of the present invention to obtain a sollutionenabling control of a cursor or pointer on an electronic viewing screenby means of the tongue and/or other parts of the mouth cavity, withouthaving to apply any manipulating object inside the mouth cavity.

[0005] This object and others are obtained by means of an apparatuscomprising a detecting unit intended to be carried by a user. Thedetecting unit is provided with at least one ultrasonic device, whichemits ultrasonic signals mainly in a direction towards the user's mouthcavity, and registers reflected ultrasonic signals. The apparatusfurther comprises a processing unit for transforming the reflectedultrasonic signals into control signals intended to control the cursor.Thereby, the control signals produce movement or other activation of thecursor on the viewing screen, such that each condition in the mouthcavity is associated with a specific cursor command.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

[0006] The present invention is described in more detail below using apreferred exemplary embodiment, and with reference to the attacheddrawings:

[0007]FIG. 1 is a schematic perspective view of an operating system fora viewing screen cursor.

[0008]FIG. 2 is a schematic perspective view of an alternativeembodiment of an operating system.

[0009]FIG. 3 is a schematic perspective view of a further alternativeembodiment of an operating system.

[0010] FIGS. 4-6 are schematic perspective views of some alternativedetail embodiments.

[0011]FIG. 7 is a flow chart of a working procedure of transformingreflected ultrasonic signals into control signals.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS

[0012] In FIG. 1, an operating system is shown for controlling a cursor100 on an electronic viewing screen 102 connected to a computer 104. Thecomputer 104 may be a PC or other unit with one or more processors. Auser 106, which will control the cursor, carries a detecting unit 108for detection of the user's movements inside the mouth cavity, inparticular the tongue. The detecting unit 108 is provided with anultrasonic unit 110 intended to emit ultrasonic signals mainly in adirection towards the user's mouth cavity, and to register signals beingreflected against the tongue and/or other parts of the mouth cavity. Thereflected signals being received in this way are thus related to theshape, position and/or movement of the tongue, as well as of other partsof the mouth cavity. In this embodiment, a transmitter at the detectingunit 108 is further arranged to transmit the reflection signalswirelessly to a receiver 114, which is connected to the computer 104 byway of a processing unit 116. The reflection signals coming in to thereceiver 114, are forwarded to the processing unit 116 for treatment andanalysis, and for transformation into control signals intended tocontrol the cursor 100, which is described in more detail below. Thetransmission between the transmitter 112 and the receiver 114 can beobtained by means of any optional technique for wireless transmission,such as IR light or Bluetooth radio. It is also possible to use wiredtransmission, as schematically indicated in FIG. 2, where the reflectionsignals from the ultrasonic unit 110 are transferred through the cable200 to the processing unit 116. However, the invention is not limited toany particular transmission technique.

[0013] In FIG. 3, a further alternative embodiment is shown, where theprocessing unit 116 is integrated together with the detecting unit 108.The reflection signals received at the ultrasonic unit 110 are treatedand analysed, and are transformed into control signals by means of theprocessing unit 116 before being wirelessly transmitted from thetransmitter 112 to the receiver 114.

[0014] According to one aspect of the invention, the detecting unit 108is designed as a so-called headset, intended to be carried on the user'shead, e.g., by being applied at an ear, or in an arch over the head. Theinvention is not limited to any particular design for carrying thedetecting unit 108.

[0015] In FIGS. 1-3, the detecting unit 108 is designed as an armpositioned on one side of the user's face. FIGS. 4-6 illustrate somealternative embodiments of the detecting unit 108.

[0016] In FIG. 4, the detecting unit 108 comprises two arms positionedon one side of the user's face. Each arm is provided with an ultrasonicunit 110.1, 110.2.

[0017]FIG. 5 illustrates an embodiment with two arms positioned oneither side of the user's face. Each arm is provided with an ultrasonicunit 110.3, 110.4.

[0018]FIG. 6 illustrates an embodiment with one arm provided with aplurality of ultrasonic units 110.5, 110.6, 110.7 . . . distributedalong one side of the user's face.

[0019] In order to achieve efficient propagation of the ultrasonicsignals in the mouth cavity, it is advantageous if the detecting unit108 is designed such that the ultrasonic unit 110 lies close to theuser's cheek or face.

[0020] Different combinations of the above-described embodiments are ofcourse possible within the scope of the invention, which is not limitedby the illustrated embodiments.

[0021] With reference to FIG. 7, the working procedure of the processingunit 116 will now be described more closely. The processing unit 116 hasthe task of transforming the reflection signals from the ultrasonic unit110 into control signals, which are fed into the computer 104 forcontrolling the cursor 100. FIG. 7 illustrates a flow chart of anexemplary working procedure by the processing unit 116 to accomplishthis transformation.

[0022] In step 700, reflection signals are received from the ultrasonicunit 110, which may comprise a predetermined sequence of a plurality ofseparate reflection registrations made during a certain period orcontinuously, at regular intervals by one or more ultrasonic units in apredetermined order. If reflections are registered in sequence by pluralultrasonic units distributed along an arm, such as illustrated forexample in FIG. 6, scanning of the mouth cavity is accomplished.

[0023] In this example, the received reflection signals are analogue,and in step 702, the signals are filtered and digitized into a shapesuitable for further treatment. The digital signals then constitute dataas a number of samples or measured values, representing differentconditions in the mouth cavity with respect to the shapes and relativepositions of the tongue, cheeks and jaws. The tongue is used inparticular to create such different conditions, since it is the partmost easily manipulated with precision by the user.

[0024] In step 704, received data is analysed, e.g. by comparing withdata stored in a table or database, to associate the measure values withspecific conditions in the mouth cavity. In this way, an image orstereogram of the mouth cavity can be created.

[0025] Next in step 706, these conditions are translated into controlsignals, intended to be fed into the computer 104 for creating movementor activation of the cursor on the viewing screen. The translation intocontrol signals can be made since different conditions in the mouthcavity are associated with specific cursor commands. These associationscan be created in beforehand by means of a training process. Thus, theuser can be trained to control the cursor by means of different tonguemovements or other movements in the mouth cavity.

[0026] The extracted control signals are finally sent to the computer104 in step 708, for controlling the cursor 100.

1. An apparatus for controlling a cursor (100) on an electronic viewingscreen (102) connected to a computer (104), characterised in that theapparatus comprises: a detecting unit (108), intended to be carried by auser (106), and being provided with at least one ultrasonic device (110)for emitting ultrasonic signals mainly in a direction towards the user's(106) mouth cavity and for registering reflected ultrasonic signals, anda processing unit (116) for transforming the reflected ultrasonicsignals into control signals intended to control the cursor (100).
 2. Anapparatus according to claim 1, characterised in that the detecting unit(108) is adapted to be carried on a user's (106) head, and comprises atleast one arm to which the ultrasonic device (110) is attached.
 3. Anapparatus according to claim 1 or 2, characterised in that the detectingunit (108) comprises at least one arm arranged on either side of auser's face, wherein each arm is provided with at least one ultrasonicdevice (110).
 4. An apparatus according to claim 2 or 3, characterisedin that a plurality of ultrasonic devices (110) are attached along thearm.
 5. An apparatus according to any of claims 1-4, characterised inthat the ultrasonic device (110) lies close to a user's cheek.
 6. Anapparatus according to any of claims 1-5, characterised in that thedetecting unit (108) is provided with a transmitter (112) for wirelesstransmission of the reflected ultrasonic signals to the processing unit(116).
 7. An apparatus according to any of claims 1-5, characterized inthat the processing unit (116) is integrated with the detecting unit(108).
 8. An apparatus according to claim 7, characterised in that thedetecting unit (108) is provided with a transmitter (112) for wirelesstransmission of the control signals to the computer (104).
 9. A methodof transforming reflected signals from an ultrasonic device (110) intocontrol signals for controlling a cursor (100) on an electronic viewingscreen (102) connected to a computer (104), characterised by thefollowing steps: receiving signals from the ultrasonic device (110)reflected in a user's mouth cavity, transforming the received signalsinto data representing different conditions in the mouth cavity, andanalysing and translating transformed data into control signals intendedto create movement or activation of the cursor on the viewing screensuch that different conditions in the mouth cavity are associated withspecific cursor commands.
 10. A method according to claim 9,characterised in that associations between different conditions in themouth and specific cursor commands are created by means of a trainingprocess.